Window cleaner



May 8, 1923.

J. F. MAYNE WINDOW CLEANER Filed Feb. 6,

2 \I/ 0 4 C z! a INVENTOR ff/Vd/me 4w Patented May 8, 1923.

PITT. TBFFICE.

JAMES FRANK MAYNE, 0F NOBW'ALK, OHIO.

wrnnow CLEANER.

Application filed February 6, 1922.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JAMns F RANK MAYNE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Norwalk, county of Huron, and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Window Cleaners, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to window cleaners operated by power to reciprocate a wiper on the surface to be cleaned.

One of the objects of my invention is to eliminate the necessity of manual operation of the cleaner, another object is to clean the surface of both sides of the window at the same operation, another object is to pr0 vide adjustment for the wipers; another object is to automatically stop the wiper when encountering an obstruction, another object is to renew the wipers when worn; another object is an efficient means to stop and start the cleaner mechanism. Other objects will appear during the perusal of this specification.

I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawing which show, by way of exemplification of the present invention, a windshield cleaner applied to an automobile, and in which Fig. 1 is a side view of an automobile windshield with a cleaner applied; Fig. 2 is an end view of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 6 (on larger scale) Fig. 4: is a sec- I tion on line 4-4 of Fig. 6 (on larger scale) Fig. 5 is a section on line 5 of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a plan view of Fig. 1; and Fig. 7 is a section in line 7--7 of Fig. 3.

Similar reference characters refer to simi lar parts throughout the views.

During a storm, either rain or sand, the operator of a vehicle, such as an automobile, or street car, or locomotive, should direct his whole attention toward the road ahead and to the control of his vehicle and should not be required to divide his attention in order to clean windows so that he can see through them.

To avoid such division of attention of the operator and thereby avoid accidents, 1 have devised the present invention.

Referring now particularly to the draw- The windshield has the glass 10, and the frame 11 and is mounted in the housing 12 as will appear more in detail presently.

The shaft 13 is disposed on one side of the windshield and is journaled in the brackets Seria1 No. 534,409.

1 and 15 which are secured to the frame 11 nd 1s also journaled in the brackets 16 and 17 which are secured to the housing 12. The shaft 13 has the gear 18 secured to one end and the body portion is reversely threaded, thus providing an endless thread like groove which has leads in four diii'erent directions as follows: the portion 19 has a right hand lead, the portion 20 has a left hand lead and crosses the portion 19, the portion 21 leads from one end of the portion 19 to one end of the portion 20, and the portion 22 leads from the other end of the portion 20 to the other end of the portion 19. Thus providing an endless thread like groove having a right and left hand lead crossing each other.

In practice it may be convenient to first out the right and then the left hand portions of the groove and then connect their ends by the port-ions 21 and 22.

The head B has a horizontal bore into which the outside of the shaft 13 fits rotatably, and also has a second horizontal bore, at right angles to the other bore and open ing thereinto.

The adjusting plug 23 is threaded into the outer end of this second bore, and the pawl block 2 1 is rotatably mounted in the inner end of this second bore. The spring 25 is interposed between this plug and this block.

The head B further has an opening through which the endless cable 26 passes and also has the screw 27, threaded therein, to firmly secure the'head B to the cable 26.

' The head B further has the projection 28 to which the wiper case 29 is secured by means of the screws 30.

The head B further has a third horizontal bore, parallel with the second horizontal bore. The adjusting plug 31 is threaded into the outer end of this third bore and bears against the roller block 32 which is slidably mounted in this third bore and is prevented from rotation therein by the pin 33 mounted in the head B.

The roller 34 is journaled in the block and bears against the frame 11.

The pawl block 24k is provided with the pawl 62 which fits into the groove A sidewise at the top but is tapered downward and.

is comparatively wide to safely pass over groove A when the cleaners encounter an obstruction.

The wiper case 29 is, preferably, formed of thin metal substantially in the form shown sectionally in Fig. 7 and the wiper is held. therein by the screws 36 and bears against the glass 10.

The rod 87 is secured to the frame 11 by the screws 38 and has the flat surface 39 to prevent its rotation.

The head C its slidably over the rod 37 and has a bore at right angles to the rod 37. The adjusting plug 10 is threaded into the outer end of this bore and bears against the roller block 41 which is slidably n'iounted in this bore and is prevented tom, rotation therein by the pin 42 mounted in the head The head C also has an opening through which the cable 26 passes and also has the screw 43, threaded thereinto. to firmly secure the head C to the cable 26. j

The roller 14 is journaled in the block ell and bear agaiijist the frame 11.

The head C also has the projection to which the wiper case 4L6 is secured by means of the screws 1-7.

The wiper case 16 is formed similar to the wiper case 29 ans carries the wiper 48 which is held therein by the screws 49 and bears against the glass 10. The endless cable 26 passes over the tour idlers 50 which are journaled in the brackets 51 secured to the frame 11.

The gear 52 meshes with the gear 18 and is supported by the bracket 53 which is se cured to the housing 12.

The vertical shaft 54: journaled in the brackets secured to the housing 12 and has its upper end secured to the gear 52 while its lower end is connected to the flexible shaft 56.

The pinion 57 meshes with the usual speedometer gear 58 and is mounted on the shaft 59 journaled in the bracket 60 and adapted to slide endwise therein to engage or to disengage the gear 58.

The shaft is moved lengthwise by means of the lever 61 conveniently located on the automobile, and is connected to the flexible shaft 56.

The wipers and 4-8 are renewable and may be made of any suitable material, preferably of felt, or rubber. or such other material which will readily remove water, snow, and dust without unduly scratching or abrasing the glass.

The wipers 35 and 48 can bothbe adjusted in relation to the glass by manipulating the adjusting plugs 23 and 4.0. In order to ad just the wiper for instance and bring; it closer to the glass, as may become necessary due to wear, the adjusting plug 23 is screwed toward the but since the head B is mounted on the shaft 13 and the roller 3% bears against the frame the head B swivels on the shalt and the upper portion of the head moves outward and the lower and. wiper portion tllGlGOTf moves inward toward the glass.

The wiper is adjusted in a similar manner and swivels on the rod 37.

l ihen either or" the wipers encounters an obstruction suiiiciently heavy to overcome the compression of the spring 25, the pawl 62 is forced out of the groove A due to its "aper sides and the pawl block 2-1 slides ou ward in its bore against the spring As soon as the obstruction is overcome, the spring will "force the pawl back into the groove again.

The operation of this apparatus generally follows: When the lever 61 is in the position shown in Fig. 1, the pinion 57 is in mesh with the gear 58 and rotates the shaft and the flexible shaft 56 and the vertical shaft 54; and the gear 52. This c'ear rotates the 1S and consequently the shatt 13.

lVhen the shaft 13 otates the pawl 62, now supposed to be in the portion 19 of the groove A. follows the lead of this portion and mo MT the head longitudinally on the shaft toward the portion 21 until the pawl arrives at the end. of this portion 19. At this point the pawl travels from the portion 19 into the portion 21 and from this portion 21 into the portion 20, whereupon the head B again travels longitudinally on shatt 13 but in a direction opnosite of the first travel until it arrives'at the opposite end or" the groove A. At this Doint,

the p wl travels from the portion 20 into the u. on 22 and then into the nortion 19 whereupon the head 73 again travels lonrj udinally but o posite to the direction this last travel. This back and forth travel of the head B continues as long as the 57 and 58 are in mesh or until one of the wipers encounters an obstruction and thereby forces the nawl out of the groove.

The head 0 is mounted on the rod 37 and can slide thereon loneitudin ally and the endcable 26 is rigidly secured to the heads P and (l. t onseouently, when the head l, t a e s in either direction, the cab e 26 must follow and also cause the head (l to travel but in a direction opnosite to the head 8.

This travel ot the heads B and (l and con seduently the wipers and 48 cleans both sides of the glass at the same time.

hen it is desired to stop the travel of the wipers. the lever 61 is moved in the di with the opening of the Windshield since it swivels on the shaft 13 which is journaled on the frame.

I am aware that modifications are possible to accomplish the aims of the present invention, within the scope of the appended claims. Therefore, without limiting myself to the precise construction shown and described,

I claim 1. The combination of a cleaner mounted for reciprocation on each side of a window, a reversely threaded shaft journaled on one side of said window, one of said cleaners carried by said shaft and adapted to engage said threads thereon, the other of said cleaners carried by a rod secured to the other side of said window, and both of said cleaners connected by an endless cable.

2. The combination of a window frame, a shaft reversely threaded intermediate its ends and journaled on said frame, a window in said frame andhinged on said shaft, cleaner carried by said shaft and provided with means to engage said threads, and driving means for operating said shaft.

3. The combination of a window frame, a shaft reversely threaded intermediate its ends journaled on said frame, a window in said frame and hinged on said shaft which is disposed on one side of this window, a rod mounted on the other side of said window, a cleaner hinge-dly mounted on said shaft and provided with means to engage said threads for reciprocation on said shaft, a second cleaner hingedly mounted on said rod and adapted for reciprocation thereon,

each of said cleaners provided with a yieldably mounted roller which bears on said window and tends to press the lower portion of said cleaner against said window, and said cleaners connected to each other for simultaneous reciprocation thereof.

4:. The combination of a. window frame, a shaft reversely threaded intermediate its ends journaled on said frame, a window in said frame and hinged on saidshaft which is disposed on one side of this window, a. rod mounted on the other side of said window, a cleaner hingedly mounted on said shaft and providedwith means to engage said threads for reciprocation on said shaft, a second cleaner hingedly mounted on said rod and adapted for reciprocation thereon, each of said cleaners provided with a yieldably mounted roller which bears on said window and tends to press the lower portion of said cleaner against said window, idlers mounted on said window, an endless cable over said idlers, and both of said cleaners secured to said cable.

5. In a window cleaner, the combination of, window frame, a shaft journaled on said frame, a window hinged on said shaft and adapted to oscillate thereon, and a cleaner mounted for reciprocation and oscil lation on said shaft.

6. In a window cleaner, the combination of, a window frame, a power shaft journaled on said frame and provided with a driving means, a window hinged on said shaft and disposed at on side thereof, a rod secured to the other side of said window, a

cleaner mounted for reciprocation and oscillation on said shaft and reciprocated thereby, a second cleaner mounted for reciprocation and oscillation on said rod and connected with and operated by the first said cleaner.

JAMES FRANK MAYNE. 

